LOGINNo one spoke.The underground room seemed to hold its breath as Ella slowly lifted the lid of the archive box.The cardboard had become brittle with age. A slight movement nearly tore one corner apart.Inside were only a handful of surviving documents.Most had been ruined by humidity.Some pages had fused together.Others had blackened around the edges, leaving only fragments of words.Ella carefully unfolded the first readable sheet.It wasn't a research report.It was a logistics record.Her eyes moved quickly across the page before stopping at a familiar name.Project Mionier – Restricted Asset TransferThree companies.Three official investors.Vraux Industry.Troyan Group.Valcor Corporation.Below them...another line had been crossed out with black ink.Yet the original writing was still faintly visible beneath it.Ella inhaled sharply."...Zero Degree Holdings."Aizen's expression hardened."So they were already involved..."Phillip looked genuinely stunned."Impossible.""Ze
The small office overlooked the entire warehouse through cracked glass panels now clouded with age. Dust coated every surface, and a thin layer of cobwebs hung from the corners of the ceiling.Terry pushed the warped wooden door open.It creaked loudly.No one spoke.Aizen entered first.Ella followed a step behind him.Phillip remained by the doorway, his expression growing distant."I haven't been inside this room since that day."His voice was barely above a whisper."I couldn't."The room was smaller than Aizen had imagined.A heavy wooden desk stood near the window. A bookshelf leaned slightly to one side, its shelves still holding faded technical manuals and engineering journals. A whiteboard occupied the far wall, though only fragments of erased formulas remained.Time had frozen here.It was as if the owner had simply stepped out for lunch and never returned.Ella slowly walked around the room.She didn't look at the obvious places.Instead, her attention drifted toward the de
Silence lingered inside the warehouse long after Phillip's words faded.No one moved immediately.The abandoned building suddenly felt heavier, as though the air itself had been carrying the truth for years, waiting for someone willing to listen.Aizen slowly walked toward the scorched corner Phillip had pointed at.His polished shoes crunched over broken glass and fragments of charred wood.He stopped.His eyes swept across the cracked concrete floor."...This was the last place?"Phillip nodded."As far as I know.""I saw Charles and Duan arguing with several people that evening."Aizen's gaze sharpened."Did you recognize them?"Phillip shook his head."No.""They weren't wearing company uniforms.""They arrived after regular working hours.""I assumed they were government representatives."He let out a slow breath."I've regretted making that assumption ever since."Ella knelt beside the uneven concrete.She slipped on a pair of latex gloves from the emergency kit Terry always car
The meeting concluded just before noon.Unlike most business negotiations, no one left the room exhausted. Phillip Hamington had answered every question with surprising honesty. He held nothing back about the financial side of Project Mionier, and every answer only strengthened the suspicion growing in both Aizen and Estella's minds.As everyone stood, Phillip checked his watch."If you still have time," he said, picking up a set of old keys from his desk, "I'd like to show you something."Aizen looked at him."The warehouse?"Phillip smiled knowingly."I had a feeling you'd ask."**Nearly forty minutes later, two black SUVs left the city center and headed toward the industrial district on the outskirts.Modern buildings gradually disappeared, replaced by abandoned factories and aging warehouses that had long been forgotten by time.The further they drove...the quieter the surroundings became.Tall weeds had swallowed the edges of cracked asphalt roads. Rusted fences leaned unevenly
The company car rolled to a smooth stop beneath the towering glass façade of Stardust Enterprise Holding.The late summer sun bathed the business district in warm golden light, reflecting off the mirrored buildings that lined the avenue. Even with the pleasant weather, the atmosphere around the entrance was anything but relaxed.Employees had already gathered near the lobby after hearing that Valcor's CEO would be visiting in person.The rear door opened first.A polished leather shoe touched the pavement.Aizen Deveraux stepped out of the car with the same composed expression he wore in every public appearance. His navy suit was impeccably tailored, paired with a crisp white linen shirt beneath and a dark blue tie that matched the subtle sheen of his jacket. He carried himself with effortless authority, the kind that didn't need to announce itself.Almost immediately, whispers spread through the crowd."That's Aizen Deveraux...""I've only seen him on business magazines.""He looks e
The room was unusually quiet.Soft morning sunlight slipped through the sheer curtains, painting long golden stripes across the hardwood floor. Outside, the city was already waking up. Cars hummed faintly in the distance, and the warm breeze of early summer nudged the curtains every now and then.For the first time in what felt like forever...Aizen Deveraux was still asleep.No ringing phone.No emergency meeting.No pressure from Orion.No battle waiting for him the moment he opened his eyes.Just silence.Estella opened her eyes slowly.For several seconds, she didn't move.Her gaze settled on the man sleeping beside her.Without his tailored suit.Without the cold, unreadable expression he wore at Valcor.Without the invisible armor he carried every single day.He simply looked...Exhausted.There was a softness to his face she had never seen before. The tight line between his brows had finally disappeared, and his breathing had become slow and even.He looked younger.Almost peac
Estella replayed the audio for the seventh time.The room stayed dark except for the pale light from her laptop screen reflecting against her tired face. Outside the apartment window, the city was still alive—cars moving, distant sirens, faint lights blinking endlessly across the skyline—but inside
Estella replayed the video three times.Then four.Then again.The room around her slowly became suffocating.The laptop screen illuminated her pale face while the city lights outside her apartment blurred behind the rain-covered windows. Her fingers trembled slightly against the keyboard, but she
Estella closed the folder slowly.Too slowly.As if sudden movements would make the truth inside it explode.Her fingers lingered on the edge of the paper for a second before she slid the file back into the compartment beneath the passenger seat exactly where she had found it.Her heartbeat was une
The elevator doors slid open with a soft metallic sound, followed by the quiet hum of morning activity inside Valcor Technology.Employees walked past one another carrying tablets, coffee cups, and stacks of documents. Screens mounted across the lobby displayed financial reports and market updates







